Bus tragedy: Govt woos victims' families with grant

Chandigarh, March 6: A day after the terrible mishap involving a school bus which collided with a truck leaving 12 children dead, the Punjab government, has sanctioned an ex-gratia grant of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of the school children and the bus driver. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal also approved an aid of Rs 25,000 each for every injured student, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister's Office said.

On March 4 the school bus carrying children from a private school collided with a brick-laden truck which was coming on a wrong lane. The incident took place on Monday morning near Jaheera village in Lambhra which is close to Nakodar. Around 30 children were travelling in the van. Many of the children travelling in the bus were under 10 years of age.

While all of them were rushed to a hospital, 5 children are battling for their life at a local hospital. The impact of the accident was so bad that the school van was virtually reduced to a piece of metal scrap. The entire stretch had bags and tiffin boxes strewn across.

The Lok Sabha today mourned the death of children in a road accident in Jalandhar district. "I am deeply saddened to learn about the tragic accident," Speaker Meira Kumar said in the Lok Sabha. She also conveyed her condolences to the members of the bereaved families of those children who died in the tragic incident.